Lawyer allegedly violated ethics

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Lawyer allegedly violated ethics

Monday, May 22, 2000

By SAM SKOLNIK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Federal prosecutors are investigating claims that a Lynnwood lawyer scammed the government while working for the Social Security Administration.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle outlined their case against Denice Patrick last week when they asked a federal judge to order her to hand over documents allegedly showing she violated ethics and conflict-of-interest laws.

Investigators say Patrick, though she was employed to write legal decisions for the administration, moonlighted for more than a year as a private lawyer who devoted much of her practice to bringing claims against the agency.

The allegations against Patrick -- who claims the agency is retaliating against her for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing -- stretch back to the early 1990s.

From 1991 to 1996, Patrick worked as an attorney for the agency's Seattle-based Office of Hearings and Appeals, which hears appeals from people whose Social Security benefit claims have been denied.

The agency began an investigation into Patrick in early 1996, after an administrative law judge in her department noticed a piece of mail that showed that she was serving as an attorney for a man who was requesting a hearing, according to court documents filed in the case.

Patrick, along with her husband and colleague James, applied for a law license in early 1994, and a year later, signed a lease for office space in Lynnwood, the documents state.

There, prosecutors claim, she opened a for-profit legal practice, complete with a paralegal and legal secretary, and began representing people bringing claims against the SSA.

In October 1995, eight months before she left the agency, Patrick allegedly placed an advertisement in the Yellow Pages for her firm, claiming she was a "former" Social Security attorney.

The investigation into Patrick included undercover agents who posed as prospective clients, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent for the Inspector General's Office of the Social Security Administration.

In 1995, state records show that Patrick's private law practice earned her about $66,000, according to the affidavit.

But Patrick and her Seattle lawyer, Allen Ressler, deny that she did anything wrong.

"There's no truth to any of the allegations," Patrick said Friday. "They're full of it. (I was) one of the top employees of the office."

Patrick said she is a victim of retaliation by agency officials because of whistle-blower complaints she filed over how some of the judges in her department had been handling cases.

Further details of the complaints were not immediately available.

Patrick said she received permission to do some outside legal work, but authorities said she was supposed to keep that to a minimum and was not allowed to represent clients in claims against the agency.

Ressler said there were misunderstandings regarding when Patrick was going to leave the agency and take on private clients. "I don't think she engaged in any deliberate conflicts of interest," he said.

David Reese Jennings, the lead federal prosecutor on the case, could not be reached for comment.

Prosecutors and administration officials are still investigating Patrick, although Ressler said he's been involved in settlement talks for several months. If no settlement is reached, prosecutors are expected to file a civil complaint. If that happens, Patrick could face a $50,000 fine and be barred from taking cases before the administration.

P-I reporter Sam Skolnik can be reached at 206-467-1039 or samskolnik@seattle-pi.com